Pavel Josef Matyas

Pavel

It was as if he came with the coffee shop, pre-ordered along with the chairs, tables and portraiture adorning it. Amidst the daily hustle and bustle he sat effortlessly allowing his essence to flow from his heart to his fingers, from his fingers to his pen and from his pen to the paper. Completely unnoticed by the multitude of caffeine junkies and frazzled college students cramming for finals he sat, day after day like clockwork. I, being one such student, adversely found myself unable to notice anything but Pavel as he sat silently creating.

Pavel’s creations left me utterly in awe. Dropping my index cards I watched in amazement as he so fluently translated the very rhythm of his soul onto paper. From conversations that followed I learned that the very sheet upon which this profound nonverbal translation takes place is the same exact sheet once discarded by a passerby who was oblivious to the life his or her trash would later adopt. While watching him create I became overwhelmed with the urge to share the same awed I felt with others, Pavel’s works evoked such strong emotions within me and it pained me to see him overlooked. To me, his works are such beautiful manifestations of the human spirit. For Pavel, his pieces are his lifeline and motivation. His art is what keeps him going.

As a member of Honolulu’s homeless community he finds solace in his art which serves as a constant reminder to persevere despite his harsh reality. In this, his premier public exhibition, “Visions of a Mind Unknown,” Pavel warmly invites you to a glance into his world, a moment in his art, his art that has become his home.

By, Gabrielle Labrosse-Ellis